Marathon year rankings

The following table shows the yearly rankings in the marathon since 1921 (men) and 1970 (women), based on the best performance in the classic distance race of 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards).

The data for the women's marathon from 1970 to 1979 is compiled from the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races. All other data is compiled from the Association of Road Racing Statisticians.

Men's year rankings Key:

Year TimeAthlete Date Place 1921 2:47:29.8 1921-09-20 Bologna, Italy 1922 2:46:26 1922-09-10 Helsinki, Finland 1923 2:40:47 1923-06-16 Windsor, England 1924 2:36:10 1924-04-12 Tokyo, Japan 1925 2:35:59 1925-05-30 Windsor, England 1926 2:34:25 1926-09-12 Helsinki, Finland 1927 2:35:21.4 1927-09-11 Helsinki, Finland 1928 2:32:57 1928-08-05 Amsterdam, Netherlands 1929 2:30:57.6 1929-07-05 Stamford Bridge, England 1930 2:36:33 1930-05-28 Tokyo, Japan 1931 2:33:19 1931-10-28 Košice, Slovakia 1932 2:31:31 1932-04-30 Tokyo, Japan 1933 2:31:10 1933-11-03 Tokyo, Japan 1934 2:32:56 1934-11-23 Osaka, Japan 1935 2:26:14 1935-03-21 Tokyo, Japan 1936 2:28:32 1936-04-18 Tokyo, Japan 1937 2:30:38 1937-03-28 Lisbon, Portugal 1938 2:30:27.6 1938-05-30 Salisbury, Massachusetts, United States 1939 2:31:26 1939-11-03 Tokyo, Japan 1940 2:33:42 1940-11-01 Tokyo, Japan 1941 2:31:27 1941-05-30 Salisbury, Massachusetts, United States 1942 2:31:38 1942-11-02 Tokyo, Japan 1943 2:38:35.3 1943-11-07 Yonkers, New York, United States 1944 2:40:48.6 1944-11-12 Yonkers, New York, United States 1945 2:36:37.6 1945-10-28 Gothenburg, Sweden 1946 2:31:37 1946-07-11 Imatra, Finland 1947 2:30:58 1947-08-23 Loughborough, England 1948 2:31:02 1948-09-07 Stockholm, Sweden 1949 2:28:39.4 1949-10-02 Turku, Finland 1950 2:29:09.4 1950-07-12 Moscow, Russia 1951 2:28:07.4 1951-08-03 Tampere, Finland 1952 2:20:42.2 1952-06-14 Windsor, England 1953 2:18:34.8 1953-10-04 Turku, Finland 1954 2:17:39.4 1954-06-26 Chiswick, England 1955 2:21:21.6 1955-09-04 Copenhagen, Denmark 1956 2:18:04.8 1956-08-12 Pieksämäki, Finland 1957 2:19:50 1957-09-01 Moscow, Russia 1958 2:15:17.6 1958-08-24 Stockholm, Sweden 1959 2:17:45.2 1959-11-11 Košice, Slovakia 1960 2:15:16.2 1960-09-10 Rome, Italy 1961 2:18:54 1961-03-21 Nagoya, Japan 1962 2:16:09.6 1962-10-24 Pyongyang, North Korea 1963 2:14:28 1963-06-15 Chiswick, England 1964 2:12:11.2 1964-10-21 Tokyo, Japan 1965 2:12:00 1965-06-12 Chiswick, England 1966 2:14:04.8 1966-11-27 Fukuoka, Japan 1967 2:09:36.4 1967-12-03 Fukuoka, Japan 1968 2:10:47.8 1968-12-08 Fukuoka, Japan 1969 2:08:33.6 1969-05-30 Antwerp, Belgium 1970 2:09:28.8 1970-07-23 Edinburgh, Scotland 1971 2:11:08.8 1971-09-25 Hobart, Australia 1972 2:10:30 1972-12-03 Fukuoka, Japan 1973 2:11:12.6 1973-07-14 Richmond, South Australia 1974 2:09:12.0 1974-01-31 Christchurch, New Zealand 1975 2:09:55 1975-04-21 Boston, United States 1976 2:09:55.0 1976-07-31 Montreal, Canada 1977 2:10:55.3 1977-12-04 Fukuoka, Japan 1978 2:09:05.6 1978-02-05 Beppu, Japan 1979 2:09:27 1979-04-16 Boston, United States 1980 2:09:01 1980-04-26 Amsterdam, Netherlands 1981 2:08:18 1981-12-06 Fukuoka, Japan 1982 2:08:52 1982-04-19 Boston, United States 1983 2:08:37 1983-04-09 Rotterdam, Netherlands 1984 2:08:05 1984-10-21 Chicago, United States 1985 2:07:12 1985-04-20 Rotterdam, Netherlands 1986 2:07:51 1986-04-21 Boston, United States 1987 2:08:18 1987-12-06 Fukuoka, Japan 1988 2:06:50 1988-04-17 Rotterdam, Netherlands 1989 2:08:01 1989-11-05 New York City, United States 1990 2:08:16 1990-09-30 Berlin, Germany 1991 2:08:53 1991-02-03 Beppu, Japan 1992 2:08:07 1992-09-27 Berlin, Germany 1993 2:08:51 1993-12-05 Fukuoka, Japan 1994 2:07:15 1994-04-18 Boston, United States 1995 2:07:02 1995-09-24 Berlin, Germany 1996 2:08:25 1996-03-24 Kyong-Ju, South Korea 1997 2:07:10 1997-10-19 Chicago, United States 1998 2:06:05 1998-09-20 Berlin, Germany 1999 2:05:42 1999-10-24 Chicago, United States 2000 2:06:36 2000-04-16 London, UK 2001 2:06:50 2001-04-22 Rotterdam, Netherlands 2002 2:05:37.8 2002-04-14 London, UK 2003 2:04:55 2003-09-28 Berlin, Germany 2004 2:06:14 2004-04-04 Rotterdam, Netherlands 2005 2:06:19.5 2005-10-16 Amsterdam, Netherlands 2006 2:05:56 2006-09-24 Berlin, Germany 2007 2:04:26 2007-09-30 Berlin, Germany 2008 2:03:58.2 2008-09-28 Berlin, Germany 2009 2:04:26.3 2009-04-05 Rotterdam, Netherlands 2010 2:04:48 2010-04-11 Rotterdam, Netherlands 2011 2:03:38 2011-09-11 Berlin, Germany 2012 2:04:15 2012-09-09 Berlin, Germany 2013 2:03:23 2013-09-28 Berlin, Germany 2014 2:02:57 2014-09-28 Berlin, Germany 2015 2:04:00 2015-09-27 Berlin, Germany 2016 2:03:03 2016-09-25 Berlin, Germany 2017 2:03:32 2017-09-24 Berlin, Germany 2018 2:01:39 2018-09-16 Berlin, Germany 2019 2:01:41 2019-09-29 Berlin, Germany 2020 2:03:00 2020-12-06 Valencia, Spain 2021 2:03:36 2021-10-24 Rotterdam, Netherlands 2022 2:01:09 2022-10-25 Berlin, Germany 2023 2:00:35 2023-10-08 Chicago, United States 2024 2:02:05 2024-12-01 Valencia, Spain 2025 2:02:16 2025-09-21 Berlin, Germany 2026 1:59:30 2026-06-26 London, UK

Women's year rankings Key:

Year TimeAthlete Date Place 1970 3:02:53 1970-02-28 Seaside, United States 1971 2:46:30 1971-08-31 Werribee, Australia 1972 2:55:45 1972-08-12 Terre Haute, United States 1973 2:46:36 1973-12-02 Culver City, United States 1974 2:43:55 1974-12-01 Culver City, United States 1975 2:38:19 1975-10-12 Eugene, United States 1976 2:39:11 1976-10-24 New York, United States 1977 2:34:48 1977-09-10 West Berlin, West Germany 1978 2:32:30 1978-10-22 New York, United States 1979 2:27:33 1979-10-21 New York, United States 1980 2:25:41 1980-10-26 New York, United States 1981 2:26:47 1981-04-20 Boston, United States 1982 2:26:12 1982-09-12 Eugene, United States 1983 2:22:43 1983-04-18 Boston, United States 1984 2:24:26 1984-05-13 London, UK 1985 2:21:06 1985-04-21 London, UK 1986 2:24:54 1986-04-20 London, UK 1987 2:22:48 1987-05-10 London, UK 1988 2:23:51 1988-01-31 Osaka, Japan 1989 2:24:33 1989-04-17 Boston, United States 1990 2:25:24 1990-04-16 Boston, United States 1991 2:24:18 1991-04-15 Boston, United States 1992 2:23:43 1992-04-20 Boston, United States 1993 2:24:07 1993-04-04 Tianjin, PR China 1994 2:21:45 1994-04-18 Boston, United States 1995 2:25:11 1995-04-17 Boston, United States 1996 2:26:04 1996-01-28 Osaka, Japan 1997 2:22:07 1997-04-20 Rotterdam, Netherlands 1998 2:20:47 1998-04-19 Rotterdam, Netherlands 1999 2:20:43 1999-09-26 Berlin, Germany 2000 2:21:33 2000-10-22 Chicago, United States 2001 2:18:47 2001-10-07 Chicago, United States 2002 2:17:17.7 2002-10-13 Chicago, United States 2003 2:15:24.6 2003-04-13 London, UK 2004 2:19:41 2004-09-26 Berlin, Germany 2005 2:17:42 2005-04-17 London, UK 2006 2:19:36 2006-04-23 London, UK 2007 2:20:38 2007-04-22 London, UK 2008 2:19:19 2008-09-28 Berlin, Germany 2009 2:22:11 2009-04-26 London, UK 2010 2:22:04 2010-04-11 Paris, France 2011 2:19:19 2011-04-17 London, UK 2012 2:18:37 2012-04-22 London, UK 2013 2:19:57 2013-10-15 Chicago, USA 2014 2:20:18 2014-09-28 Berlin, Germany 2015 2:19:25 2015-09-27 Berlin, Germany 2016 2:19:41 2016-01-22 Dubai, United Arab Emirates 2017 2:17:01 2017-04-23 London, UK 2018 2:18:11 2018-09-16 Berlin, Germany 2019 2:14:04 2019-10-13 Chicago, USA 2020 2:17:16 2020-12-06 Valencia, Spain 2021 2:17:43 2021-10-03 London, UK 2022 2:14:18 2022-10-09 Chicago, United States 2023 2:11:53 2023-09-24 Berlin, Germany 2024 2:09:56 2024-10-13 Chicago, United States 2025 2:14:00 2025-12-07 Valencia, Spain

See also National records in the marathon Marathon world record progression Masters M35 marathon world record progression Masters M40 marathon world record progression Masters M45 marathon world record progression Masters M50 marathon world record progression Masters M55 marathon world record progression Masters M60 marathon world record progression Masters M65 marathon world record progression Masters M70 marathon world record progression Masters M75 marathon world record progression Masters M80 marathon world record progression Masters M85 marathon world record progression Masters W35 marathon world record progression Masters W40 marathon world record progression Masters W45 marathon world record progression Masters W50 marathon world record progression Masters W55 marathon world record progression Masters W60 marathon world record progression Masters W65 marathon world record progression Masters W70 marathon world record progression Masters W75 marathon world record progression Masters W80 marathon world record progression Masters W85 marathon world record progression

References